In good health

When a baby is born, everybody hopes it will be healthy, yet even though not all children are born with perfect health, the fourth aspect of the Birth to Three framework refers to a Healthy Child. Why? It does so because health is seen in terms of a number of dimensions, which are not simply about physical health but about children's psychological well being, their growth and development, their safety and protection from harm, and the way they learn to make healthy choices.

So, in referring to a Healthy Child the framework recognises that there are wide differences between children, not only physically and psychologically, but also in relation to their experiences, which in turn influence and shape their genetic inheritance. In describing every child in this way the framework challenges the ways some people view children, suggesting that all children, whatever their physical and psychological starting points, are entitled to be thought of as healthy. It describes a healthy child under the following components: